Disentangling Attachment, Parental Bonding, and Depression Symptoms in Young Adults

Irregularities in parental attachment and parental bonding are both linked to depressive symptoms in young adults. Although these two constructs are associated with each other, they are also distinct. Bonding and attachment are often studied separately, with little research comparing them in their ability to uniquely predict depressive symptoms. The current study examined these constructs in the same study to further elucidate their relationship with depressive symptomatology, as well as examine whether they are indeed separate constructs in their linkage to these symptoms. Measures of parental bonding, attachment, and depression were administered to determine if they could predict scores on a measure of depression. Results suggested that attachment and bonding are in fact unique constructs that are both associated with depressive symptoms. In a combined model, the anxious dimension of attachment was significant. As anxious attachment increased, so did depressive symptoms. The bonding factors of mother and father care were both shown to be protective factors in the combined model as well. As each parental care factor increased, depressive symptoms decreased. This study helps bridge the gap between research on attachment and bonding in depression. It also presents evidence that they uniquely predict depressive symptoms, even when examined concurrently.